Sunday, 11 October 2009

Who's left? (Cornerbacks)

Michigan is in a decent position for so many defensive backs that I'll have to split it into cornerbacks and safeties. I watched most of the Iowa game last night, and I thought the secondary was slightly improved, Troy Woolfolk's switch to corner certainly paid off as he made a couple of pass breakups in the 2nd half. But still, Michigan needs depth, and some of these players could definitely add that.

- CB Tony Grimes (Hollywood, FL), one of the more physical corners in the country, Grimes is a four star prospect who currently has Michigan as his leader. He and teammate Clarence Murphy will be going to the same college, and both of them like Michigan. Grimes has been high on the Wolverines for a long time, and although his commitment won't come for a while, look for him and Murphy to end up with the Maize and Blue.

Chances of signing with UM: 70%

- CB Johnavon Fulton (Manning, SC), rated as the #5 corner in the nation by scout.com, Fulton's stock has risen a lot as of late. Recently said Michigan and Tennessee are teams that could jump into his top 5 at any time, which is important because....“The end of October that’s it... if you aint in my top five, it’s over!”

Chances of signing with UM:15%

- CB Joshua Shaw (Palmdale, CA), just can't make his mind up if he wants to visit Michigan! If he does, it will be for the Ohio State game, who funnily enough are his leaders at this point. All the big programs are after this guy, so I doubt Michigan is going to land him.

Chances of signing with UM: 10%

- CB Dior Mathis (Detroit, MI), rated by most as the top corner in the state of Michigan, Mathis has been to a lot of Wolverine games over the last couple of years. At one point it looked like Michigan were out of the running for Mathis, when he put the Wolverines around 6th on his list! Oregon are the leaders, followed by Michigan State and Michigan, who have come back into the picture this fall.

Chances of signing with UM: 40%

- CB Rashad Knight (Jacksonville, FL), this one is a real mystery. Firstly its a mystery how scout.com rates him so poorly? (#73 CB????) And secondly, its almost impossible to give a prediction. Michigan are the leaders at the moment, but most people think if Florida State offer, he'll pull the trigger and commit straight away. Florida State badly want Lamarcus Joyner, but if he commits anyway else, look for FSU to offer Knight, and for him to accept.

Chances of signing with UM: 40%

- CB Cullen Christian (Pittsburgh, PA), this is the one everyone wants. Recently set a date of November 24th, and on that day look for him to be wearing a UM shirt/hat etc...I can't see him going anywhere else, he's been a UM lean for a long long time, and although a recent Buckeyes offer shakes things up a bit, Coach Rich Rod has probably already picked a number out for scout.com's #3 CB. The only real question is whether he will earn a fifth star by the end of the year? Over the last few seasons, usually the top 3-5 CB's get 5 stars!

2 comments:

Since there is so much turmoil for the cornerback position next to Warren (granted Woolfolk played okay yesteray, but alot of the plays he made seemed to be more because of Ricky Stanzi's inaccuracy as opposed to solid coverage), when are we gonna see JT Turner? Also, has he been seeing any snaps at all? I saw Will Campbell last night, he looked awesome, but i never saw Turner line up in the corner position.

I'm more of a recruiting man myself, but the main reason JT Turner hasn't played is because he showed up late to the start of the season due to academic issues. He was therefore behind the other corners technique wise. He is however very talented, so if he's not redshirted then he could see more action towards the end of the season.